Morning Light – July 10th, 2015: A Song of David

Morning Light – July 10th, 2015
Today: [2 Samuel Chapter Twenty-Two]: A Song of David. In this chapter we find an early version of Psalm 18 offered as a preamble to the last words of David. David rehearses who God is to him and what God has done for him in his lifetime. For us we understand that the favor of God to David was passed on through his bloodline right down to Jesus Himself after His human nature. God preserves His anointed and shows favor to His king. This is who Jesus is IN US and therefore as we read this Psalm of Davidic Favor and Blessing we also know that it applies to us in our own walk with God.
[2Sa 22:1-51 KJV] 1 And David spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day [that] the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul: 2 And he said, The LORD [is] my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; 3 The God of my rock; in him will I trust: [he is] my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. 4 I will call on the LORD, [who is] worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. 5 When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; 6 The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me; 7 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry [did enter] into his ears. 8 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth. 9 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. 10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness [was] under his feet. 11 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he was seen upon the wings of the wind. 12 And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, [and] thick clouds of the skies. 13 Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled. 14 The LORD thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice. 15 And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them. 16 And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuking of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. 17 He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many waters;
This is the second recorded Psalm of David, the first being the lament over the death of Saul and Jonathan. David wrote a total of 73 Psalms that are directly attributed to him. There are thirty or so in the book of Psalms with no authorship mentioned and the remainder of the 150 attributed to other authors. Scholars believe this Psalm is inserted from words that David spoke and sang many years before and is therefore out of chronological order with the events in the preceding chapters. It is possible that it was added to conclude the book at the end of David’s life but then later writers added the remaining chapters. It appears to be an early version of David’s final words as it summarizes much of David’s lifelong testimony. This Psalm with minor differences is almost identical to Psalm 18.
In verse 2 – 4 David praises God for who He is in David’s life. He is David’s Rock, his fortress, his Deliverer, his Shield, His High Tower, the Horn of David’s Salvation, his Refuge and his Savior. This is the FIRST MENTION of the word “Savior” in the bible and it was coined by David, the progenitor of Jesus and a type of Christ Himself. The Hebrew word here is “Yasha” and means the following:
Hebrew Yasha (Savior). To be spacious, ample and broad. To be opulent, to have ample space. One who sets free or preserves. To aid or support. To give victory, to help, to conquer. To gain victory and be delivered.
The word opulent means to be “full of wealth, of large estate, to be richly supplied, abundant, plentiful and affluent…”
18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, [and] from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me. 19 They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay. 20 He brought me forth also into a large place: he delivered me, because he delighted in me. 21 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. 22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. 23 For all his judgments [were] before me: and [as for] his statutes, I did not depart from them. 24 I was also upright before him, and have kept myself from mine iniquity. 25 Therefore the LORD hath recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to my cleanness in his eye sight. 26 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful, [and] with the upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright. 27 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself unsavoury. 28 And the afflicted people thou wilt save: but thine eyes [are] upon the haughty, [that] thou mayest bring [them] down. 29 For thou [art] my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will lighten my darkness.
God delights in us therefore His response is to bring us into a large place. David understood forgiveness because he says that God rewarded him according to the cleanness of his hands. Our cleansing comes from our faith in the shed blood of Christ. We have every right in the cross to expect blessing and to see ourselves as unimpeachable in character – such as Paul who persecuted Christians but after salvation declares “receive me I have wronged no man and defrauded no man”. When David says he is upright he refers to his obedience. When we refer to our uprightness we refer to who Jesus is to us because our righteousness is based on who Jesus is and what He has done for us and not who we are or what we have done for God. As 1 Cor. 1:30,31 tell us – God made Jesus to become our righteousness. Our righteousness is not from religious or moral perfection. Our righteousness is a person and His name is Jesus.
David speaks of mercy. With the merciful God will show Himself merciful. God loves and delights in us – and our experience of the dividends of that love will seen in our life in the measure that we show love and give mercy to others.
30 For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall. 31 [As for] God, his way [is] perfect; the word of the LORD [is] tried: he [is] a buckler to all them that trust in him. 32 For who [is] God, save the LORD? and who [is] a rock, save our God? 33 God [is] my strength [and] power: and he maketh my way perfect. 34 He maketh my feet like hinds’ [feet]: and setteth me upon my high places. 35 He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. 36 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great. 37 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip. 38 I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them; and turned not again until I had consumed them. 39 And I have consumed them, and wounded them, that they could not arise: yea, they are fallen under my feet. 40 For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me. 41 Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me. 42 They looked, but [there was] none to save; [even] unto the LORD, but he answered them not. 43 Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth, I did stamp them as the mire of the street, [and] did spread them abroad. 44 Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people, thou hast kept me [to be] head of the heathen: a people [which] I knew not shall serve me. 45 Strangers shall submit themselves unto me: as soon as they hear, they shall be obedient unto me. 46 Strangers shall fade away, and they shall be afraid out of their close places. 47 The LORD liveth; and blessed [be] my rock; and exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation. 48 It [is] God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down the people under me, 49 And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man. 50 Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name. 51 [He is] the tower of salvation for his king: and sheweth mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore.
David is a man of battle and you and I are also engaged in warfare of a spiritual nature. David pursued after his enemies who many times outnumbered him by several magnitudes. David didn’t not show this kind of bravado until the Prophet Nathan prophesied to him of events and blessings of God far into his future. David understood that God had established his ways and that he would not fail. We do not fight against people but we do war against spiritual forces that seek to destroy us and to destroy others. Our spoil is not found in natural conquest but in being instruments of deliverance for others from the clutches of despair and helplessness and by bringing others to a living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
David concludes with seeing God as the tower of salvation for His king. The people had a king in Saul but God has a king in David. You and I are likewise kings. God will save His king. The monarchs of years past only applied this to themselves but the bible plainly speaks of believers and kings and priests unto God. Furthermore God shows mercy to His anointed. David was anointed by Samuel and anointed by the people three times in his life. He knew that he was anointed. For us the very name Christ means “the anointed one” or the “one who is smeared with oil”. The anointed one lives in us. God will show mercy to us because Jesus is in us. He is acting in kindness toward us “for Jesus’ sake”. David understood this applied to him but also “to his seed forevermore…” Jesus is the seed that after his human nature came forth out of David. When we accept Jesus as Savior this Davidic favor becomes our portion. The “sure mercies of David” are our inheritance and what David experienced in his lifetime of the favor of God we may also may confidently expect to enjoy in our lifetime.